Drowners announce second album, stream ‘Cruel Ways’

Brooklyn-based four piece Drowners have just announced that their sophomore album On Desire will be released on June 24th via Frenchkiss. Along with this news comes the first single Cruel Ways that is streaming below. Cruel Ways is a catchy pop rock tune that elevates the band above their post punk roots.

Track from the new album as well as their self-titled debut were recently showcased at SXSW. Since the release of their debut, Drowners have supported acts as Arctic Monkeys, Cage the Elephant, The Vaccines, Temples, and Foals.

Drowners came together in summer 2011 when lead singer Matt Hitt uprooted himself from his native Wales and resettled in New York City. Taking inspiration from his classic UK indie forebears, he honed his razor-edged songcraft and soon united a crack band to join him, Jack Ridley III (guitar, vocals,) Erik Lee Snyder (bass,) and later, Daniel Jacobs (drums).

‘Cruel Ways’ was one of the first songs written for the album. There was this Harold Pinter quote I read a couple of years ago that said, ‘I think we communicate only too well, in our silence, in what is unsaid, and that what takes place is a continual evasion…’ I kept thinking about it and the kind of anxiety and/or paranoia that comes from things that are unsaid. In retrospect, this ended up becoming a major lyrical theme for the record.